


Disappearing Milk And A Stray Cat

by sgtbuckaroobarnes



Series: SamBucky Prompt Fills [8]
Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Winter Falcon, a cute fluffy one, bucky barnes is a fucking sweetheart and it rips my heart out, its great, sam is so in love with bucky's weirdness, sambucky - Freeform, there's a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 11:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8842948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgtbuckaroobarnes/pseuds/sgtbuckaroobarnes
Summary: Prompt: Bucky gets adopted by the neighborhood stray cat. Sam wonders where all the milk in their kitchen goes.





	

“Hey Buck?” Sam called, he sounded like he was in the kitchen. Bucky pulled on some pajama pants and started rubbing at his hair with his towel.

“What?” he called back, turning in a circle looking for his shirt. 

“Are we out of milk again?” 

Bucky froze, his hand still in his hair. 

“Uuuumm…yeah.” He called back. He spotted the shirt he was looking for sticking out from under the bed and bent to grab it. 

“Why are we out of milk again Buck?” Sam’s voice startled him, he jumped and spun around, holding his shirt to his chest. Sam was leaning in the door, an amused expression on his face at the sight of Bucky holding his shirt over himself like an offended maiden. 

“Well…uh…I was- I was just really thirsty.” Bucky said with a shrug. Sam looked at him and narrowed his eyes.

“You were really thirsty?” he questioned, sounding not at all convinced. 

“Yeah. Yeah I- I was. Just really really thirsty.” Bucky said, slowly pulling his shirt over his head and turning around, turning away from Sam, making a face to himself at his dumb excuse. 

“Okay. I know you’re lying. I just- I know it. But I can’t for the life of me figure out why you’d lie about milk. So I’m just gonna ignore it and pretend this conversation didn’t happen.” Sam said, sounding like he was perfectly happy just ignoring Bucky’s weirdness. 

“Good strategy.” Bucky said with a nod, turning in circles again as Sam walked out of the room, he couldn’t find his fucking towel, it was just in his hand, what the fuck.

“It’s on the floor behind you.” Sam called from the kitchen. Bucky spun around again, snapped his fingers and pointed at the towel then bent down and scooped it up. He ducked out of the room and headed for the kitchen of their smallish apartment. He threw his towel into the laundry nook in the kitchen and grabbed the cup of coffee Sam had set on the counter for him. 

“I’m gonna go out and get some more milk. Should I buy two gallons this time? Are you gonna be really really thirsty again? Should I get three maybe?” Sam asked, his voice dry. Bucky took a sip of his coffee and widened his eyes over the cup as he looked at Sam. He gently set the mug down on the counter, very obviously focusing on it rather than Sam.

“I think two should be fine. But yeah, I might be really really thirsty again.” He narrowed his eyes, looking at Sam for a moment and then turned away quickly, opening the fridge and peeking inside. He glanced over the top of the door to see if Sam was still looking at him, he was. He ducked back into the fridge, hiding his face behind the door and cringing. 

“I saw that.” Sam said and walked out the door. Bucky sighed and shut the fridge, then headed for the fire escape. 

He opened the window and peaked out, watching Sam cross the street and turn the corner before he whistled down into the alley and watched as the fur ball came trotting out from behind the dumpster and jumped up the stairs to get to him. 

“Hey there ya big ball of fluff. I’ll have to give you some milk later tonight. Sam went to get some from the store. He’ll be back soon so we gotta hurry.” He bent down and the fluffy black cat pushed its face against his hand, her loud purrs making Bucky smile. He walked away from the window and headed back to the kitchen. He smiled again when he heard the little ‘pap pap pap’ of her paws on the wood floor as she followed him. 

She always followed him. That’s how he’d gotten into this. She started following him down the street when he left for work one day. She followed him two blocks, he hadn’t shooed her away, but he’d turned around half a million times to make sure she wasn’t running out in front of any cars or anything. She stopped at the corner of the second block and sat down. She’d watched him until he turned and then had made her way back home, he assumed. All he knew was she followed him two blocks every time he left the house and then showed up at night, scratching at the window and meowing her small, high pitched, meow. 

He’d started letting her in when it got cold, and then just kind of…kept letting her in. But only when Sam wasn’t home. Or when he was asleep. He’d gotten in the habit of giver her tuna every other Friday, half the can in the morning or afternoon, and half the can at night with a bowl of milk. He was standing at the counter opening a can of tuna and then felt her paws on his thigh. 

“I know I know, I’m going as fast as I can.” He laughed when she meowed loudly back at him.

“Well if I go any faster I’m gonna spill it!” Bucky said, trying to look at her and drain the tuna at the same time. She meowed again, her tiny voice seeming very very loud in the tiny kitchen. 

“Alright! Here!” he said, dropping the plate of tuna on the floor and watching her eat it with a smile on his face. She was holding the plate down with her paw and just scarfing the tuna down, she was basically inhaling it.

Bucky’s heart always ached when he watched her eat like that, she ate so fast, like she was afraid someone was going to take the food away, like maybe it was a trick and the food was going to be yanked away before she could finish. Bucky understood that. He sighed and added another spoonful to the plate and then put the rest in a baggie and hid it behind the jar of sauerkraut in the fridge. 

“Why we even have that in there I’ll never know.” he said to the cat, she looked at him and turned her head to the side, he big eyes looking up at him, blinking slowly. He smiled and sat down on the floor, crossing his legs and holding his hand out for her to rub on. He scratched her chin as she purred, her front feet kneading into his leg. She made a small chirping sound and curled up on his lap, lying in a near perfect circle, he petted her slowly, sinking his fingers deep into her thick fur, making her purr louder.

They stayed like that for almost fifteen minutes. Her curled on his legs, him resting his head back against the counter, listening to her purr. Then they heard the key in the door. She jumped off his lap and he jumped to his feet. She ran to window without Bucky having to say anything. She meowed once and then disappeared down the fire escape as Bucky scooped up the plate and threw it in the trash, turning to toward the door just as Sam walked through it. 

Sam stared at him for a minute, his grocery bag propped on his hip, his key in his hand. He looked at the open window and then to Bucky who was leaning awkwardly on the counter. He narrowed his eyes again. 

“You look incredibly guilty. You know that right?” he asked, slowly pushing the door closed. 

“Me? I’m not- yes. I do know that.” Bucky stammered and then gave up, he nodded as Sam continued to stare at him. Sam nodded back and headed for the kitchen, walking past Bucky and glancing sideways at him.

“Okay. As long as you know.” Sam said, pulling three milk gallons out and shoving them in the fridge. Bucky peaked over his shoulder.

“I thought you were getting two.” He said, reaching around Sam, pressing close to him on purpose, and grabbing a water bottle. Sam straightened up before Bucky had pulled back, pushing his back into Bucky’s chest, also on purpose, Bucky knew it, and looked at him.

“Yeah, well, they were on sale. So I figured the more I got this trip the better, ya know, in case you get really really thirsty again.” Sam said, leveling his eyes with Bucky’s as he turned and pressed their chests together, giving him a look. Bucky nodded and smiled.

“Probably a good plan.” 

Sam nodded back. 

“I’m gonna…go…over here.” Bucky said slowly, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. He leaned forward quickly and gave Sam a small peck on the cheek and then ran and flopped down on the couch, dropping his water bottle on his stomach and pulling a book up and covering his face with it. Sam stared after him, shaking his head. 

“You are such a freak.” He muttered fondly as he walked across the living room and into the bedroom, Bucky saw him smile and touch his fingers to his cheek where Bucky had kissed it. Bucky settled back into the couch more, smiling to himself and feeling satisfied as he heard the shower turn on. 

~***~

He woke up at 2am, like always. It was always something, dreams, nightmares, a sudden feeling of dread that something had happened to Sam. It didn’t matter the reason, it always happened at 2am. He couldn’t remember the dream he’d been having but his heart was pounding in his chest and he was covered in sweat. He sat up and ran his hands over his face. Then he heard the meowing. 

He smiled and got out of bed slowly, being careful not wake Sam. He grabbed the shirt that was hanging off the end of the bed. He pulled it over his head as he walked to the window, yawning and watching the cat rise up to scratch at the window, meowing louder at the sight of Bucky. 

“I’m comin I’m comin, chill.” He whispered, unlocking the window and pulling it up. She jumped in, rubbed against his legs and then followed him to the kitchen. He poured a bowl of milk and set it on the floor.

“There ya go hun.” He whispered, running his hand down her back, smiling again as she arched into his touch and started drinking. He moved to the fridge and pulled out the baggie of tuna, pushing the sauerkraut jar out of the way with a finger and making a disgusted noise. He grabbed a paper plate and emptied the baggie of tuna onto it, checking for bones with a fork before placing the plate on the ground as well.

He lowered himself to the floor and rested his chin on his hands, watching her move from the plate to the bowl and back again. He reached out and scratched her head, she made that cute little noise she always made and rubbed her face against Bucky’s metal fingers hard. Her teeth clinking against the metal. She opened her mouth and bit down on one, gently, rubbed it again, and then went back to her milk. 

Bucky sighed happily, his eyes drifting closed as he watched her. He heard her snort as she ate some tuna and he chuckled, his eyes still closed, he was falling asleep on the kitchen floor.

“So this explains a lot.” 

Bucky jerked his head up, instantly awake. He saw the cat glance over her shoulder at Sam and then go back to eating. Sam was leaning against the door frame of their bedroom, his sweatpants hanging low on his hips, his arms crossed over his bare chest. Bucky looked up at him, his mouth dropped open, about to start making excuses and then he saw that Sam was smiling.

“You’re smiling.” He said, sounding confused, even to himself. He heard Sam chuckle and then watched as he walked over slowly, his eyes moving from Bucky to the cat drinking milk on their kitchen floor. He was being cautious. When he got close she stopped drinking her milk and turned to look at him, he stopped walking and looked right back at her.

“Hey there. I guess you’re the one who’s been drinking all our milk.” Sam said, smiling down at her. She looked at him for another moment, Bucky was holding his breath, and then she walked over and rubbed on Sam’s legs, circling him twice and meowing before going back to her milk. Sam laughed and started moving again, he walked over to where Bucky was and sat down next to him. 

He leaned his shoulder into Bucky’s and looked at him.

“You’ve been giving all our milk to a stray cat.” He said, his eyes looking at Bucky softly. 

“I’ve been giving all our milk to a stray cat, yeah.” Bucky said quietly with a nod. Sam laughed through his nose and shook his head, leaning closer to Bucky and kissing his cheek.

“You’re a sweetheart Bucky Barnes.” He said, looking to the cat and reaching out to stroke her fur, she started purring and kept eating. Bucky rested his head on Sam’s shoulder, humming happily.

“That’s my shirt yer wearin by the way.” Sam said without looking away from the cat, Bucky looked down at himself and saw that he was indeed wearing Sam’s shirt. He shrugged and put his head back on Sam’s shoulder, enjoying the moment.

“How bout we call it your milk too now huh? That way it won’t have to be a secret.” He said to the cat, scratching behind her ears and smiling. She meowed at him and flopped over onto her side, looking at Sam and Bucky and blinking slowly. 

“She got a name?” Sam asked, moving his hand to rest on Bucky’s forearm and squeezing. 

“No. I didn’t give her one. I didn’t wanna get too attached.” 

“Buck, you’ve been sneaking the cat inside and sitting on the floor with her while she eats, I’d say you’re a little past that.” Sam responded. Bucky hid a smile in Sam’s shoulder.   
“Yeah. Fair point.” He mumbled. Sam placed a kiss in Bucky’s hair and rested his head on Bucky’s. 

“Well we can figure out her name in the morning. It’s time for us to get back to bed.” He squeezed Bucky’s arm again and then pulled him to his feet, pushing a strand of hair behind Bucky’s ear as he yawned. Sam headed for the bedroom, pulling Bucky with him, he paused and looked past Bucky.

“You comin little miss?” he asked the cat. She tilted her head at him and then meowed loudly and ran into the bedroom. 

Sam laughed and wrapped his arm around Bucky’s waist, Bucky hummed sleepily again, moving his arm over Sam’s shoulder and leaning into him. Bucky smiled as Sam picked him up and threw him on the bed. He snuggled down into the blankets, feeling sleep pulling him under and Sam pulling him close. Then he felt paws walking on his legs as she climbed onto him and curled into a ball. He drifted off to sleep to the sound of purring.

**Author's Note:**

> so i'm gonna stop putting who the prompts came from, mainly because i'm too lazy to go back and check them all, bt also because most of them came from anon's anyway, and the people who did send them in not on anon got the credit on the blog when i posted them! so yeah, i'm just gonna put the pormpts in the summary thingies from now on! woo!


End file.
